Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Raises Holdings in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Key Points

• Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Waste Management, Inc. by 1.4%, owning 2,181,924 shares valued at approximately $505 million as of the latest SEC filing.
• Several other institutional investors, including Brighton Jones LLC and Golden State Wealth Management LLC, also significantly increased their holdings in Waste Management during the recent quarters.
• Waste Management's stock recently traded at $233.05, with a market capitalization of $93.88 billion, and the company reported strong quarterly earnings, beating estimates with $6.43 billion in revenue.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM - Free Report) by 1.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,181,924 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 29,715 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned 0.54% of Waste Management worth $505,137,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Waste Management by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,866 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $781,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 7,534 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,520,000 after buying an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 0.4% during the first quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 11,655 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,698,000 after buying an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 3.0% during the first quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC now owns 1,533 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $355,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Formidable Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 2.0% during the first quarter. Formidable Asset Management LLC now owns 2,317 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $536,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. 80.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WM has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Waste Management in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Waste Management from $260.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Waste Management from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $229.00 price objective on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Raymond James Financial upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $255.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $254.35.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In related news, SVP Rafael Carrasco sold 674 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.81, for a total transaction of $159,609.94. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 16,542 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,917,311.02. This trade represents a 3.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 57,888 shares of Waste Management stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $237.36, for a total value of $13,740,295.68. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 83,934 shares in the company, valued at $19,922,574.24. This trade represents a 40.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Waste Management Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of Waste Management stock traded up $1.89 during trading on Friday, hitting $235.11. 1,088,435 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,562,063. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.64. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1-year low of $199.69 and a 1-year high of $242.58. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $230.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $228.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.51, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The business services provider reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.03. Waste Management had a return on equity of 34.37% and a net margin of 11.36%. The firm had revenue of $6.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.82 EPS. The business's revenue was up 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th were given a dividend of $0.825 per share. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 6th. Waste Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.96%.

Waste Management Profile

Waste Management, Inc, through its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of environmental solutions to residential, commercial, industrial, and municipal customers in the United States and Canada. It offers collection services, including picking up and transporting waste and recyclable materials from where it was generated to a transfer station, material recovery facility (MRF), or disposal site; and owns and operates transfer stations, as well as owns, develops, and operates landfill facilities that produce landfill gas used as renewable natural gas for generating electricity.